Former Infoseek Executive Admitted Guilt, CEO Testifies
The chief executive of Infoseek Corp. testified in federal court Wednesday that Patrick Naughton, a former top executive at the company, admitted that he “did it” a day after Naughton was arrested by the FBI on suspicion of using the Internet to solicit sex from a minor.
Harry Motro, CEO of Infoseek, which was acquired by Walt Disney Co. last month, said that during a Sept. 17 phone call, Naughton told him: “I did it. I’m sorry.” When Naughton said that he understood that he probably would be fired, Motro said he replied, “Yes, you’re fired.”
Naughton’s attorneys disputed Motro’s account, saying that Naughton never confessed to the crime and only acknowledged that he had been arrested. Naughton’s attorneys also implied that Motro is tailoring his testimony to protect his company from liability for what Naughton considers wrongful termination.
The testimony from Motro in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles capped an eventful second day in the trial of Naughton, who faces three federal felony charges surrounding allegations that he sought to have sex with a 13-year-old girl. If convicted, he could be sentenced to as long as 40 years in prison.
Prosecutors also introduced new evidence, including 10 images of alleged child pornography that FBI agents say they found on Naughton’s computer when he was arrested. Jurors looked on sternly as the images were shown on television monitors in the courtroom. All of the images appeared to include naked children, some in sexual positions with adults.
Naughton’s attorneys argued that because of the technical nature of Internet chat, the illegal images could have been sent to his machine without his knowledge. But an FBI computer expert testified that the laptop’s system records show that some of the images had been viewed months after they were initially stored on the machine.
Federal prosecutors questioned five other witnesses, including Naughton’s personal secretary at Infoseek and an accountant from Disney. Naughton was executive vice president of product for Go Network, a collection of Web sites created jointly by Disney and Infoseek.
Motro also testified that Naughton told him that “he had to say 1,000 apologies to 1,000 people.” Motro added that Naughton pointed out that there was no 13-year-old girl, only an FBI agent posing as one.
But Donald Marks, Naughton’s lead attorney, disputed Motro’s account. Marks said that Naughton had received a voicemail message from Motro in which the CEO said he had “heard some disturbing rumors.” Naughton, Marks said, returned the call to inform his boss he had been arrested.
Marks also asked Motro why there had been two drafts of the letter officially terminating Naughton. Details of the letters were not disclosed, but Marks said the first letter included details about the phone call that had been deleted in the second letter. Marks implied that those deletions suggest that Motro’s account of the phone conversation is not reliable.
Motro said the second version was drafted merely to “clarify” certain issues and reflected changes that he and Infoseek’s top attorney had suggested.
Marks also asserted that Naughton’s termination cost him more than $15 million in stock options he was forced to forfeit. Motro said he was not sure of the exact amount, but Marks sought to use that information to show that Motro, Infoseek and Disney have a financial incentive to cooperate with prosecutors.
Other witnesses who testified Wednesday included Spencer Neumann, Go’s chief financial officer, who said he and Naughton flew together on a corporate jet from San Jose to Burbank the day of Naughton’s arrest. Neumann said that upon arrival in Burbank, Naughton asked directions to Santa Monica Pier.
Naughton was arrested Sept. 16 after arriving at the pier for what authorities said he expected to be a sexual encounter with a girl--actually an undercover agent--he had been corresponding with in Internet chat rooms for eight months.
